We are so excited to welcome you to the first issueof the 2016-2017 Troubadour! This is the first time that Troubadour has been published in the fall, and we are thrilled to be expanding the magazine as editors this year.

Given the atypical start to this school year, we find it especially important to have an outlet for student writing and ideas. This issue features writing about the flooding that affected our community this fall, as well as pieces from students across all grades.

It is indicative of the strength of our community, as well as the creativity at the heart of our school, to have so many students involved in this magazine.

This year we decided on the theme of "starting conversations," because, in the spirit of our idea to promote original student writing, we also wanted to make this publication something that would spark ideas. We hope to inspire and intrigue your minds with original student writing.​If you want to spark a conversation, you can talk to us about becoming a contributor (for writing, art, photos, short films, etc.) in the next edition!!! And, if this isn't your scene, we want you to still submit any writing, photos, or art you are proud of to our big, cumulative magazine at the end of the year. Submit to ehstroub@gmail.com.

​We want to make Troubadour by y'all, for y'all, so tell us what you think!

​“7.36 X 1022 Kilograms Doesn’t Make You Fat, I Swear”

Dear Luna,

I want to apologize. Every evening, I looked to you but never did I think that you had feelings, too. Like I, you might be heartbroken, or worse, the text you took twenty minutes to write was read but did not receive a response. All the while, long-distance couples look to you to find their lover in the sky. I can’t imagine how much pressure that must be. You are the symbol keeping everybody together and rarely can you take a break. In addition to everything going on, I feel required tell you I heard Soleil was illuminating other moons. It is probably just a rumor, but I believe it to be this girl Janus who hangs around Saturn. I don’t want you to get upset because I don’t even know if it’s true. But how that is how it goes.

First it’s illumination. Illumination turns into dinner. Dinner leads to moving in. The next thing you know, you’re seeing little sun babies every 365 days and wondering if four and a half billion years meant anything at all.

I understand how you must be feeling, which is why I feel the need to say I am sorry for putting so much undue pressure on you. If you weren’t lactose intolerant, I would send you some chocolates because out of everything in existence, you deserve them the most. I mean when was the lastSoleil sent you something? I’m sure he could at least manage flowers around the summer solstice.I know I have no place expressing this, but you’re a strong celestial object, and you don’t need the sun. There are plenty of fish in the solar system. If I’m not mistaken, Pluto is a planet again, and I’m sure no one would judge you for getting coffee with a dwarf planet. Heck, girls on Earth don’t even consider dating a guy unless he has protruding abdominal muscles or a bank account that puts Bill Gates to shame. I would tell you to dip your feet in and test out the waters, but I’m afraid immersing all 7.36 x 1022 kilograms of you into the oceans would devastate Earth.

I hope you can forgive me and that I haven’t complicated issues further. Mars always tells me to stay out of the cosmic drama, but you know I can’t help it!